The Best Choice
by BrandNewDay
Summary: Spoilers for Sacrifice Dupree is still unconsious, and Ria Torres finds herself spending more time with Eli Loker. What will happen when their relationship exceeds friendship? Ria/Eli, Loker/Torres
1. Chapter 1

Eli Loker heard the sound of footsteps-heels to be exact- echoing down the halls. They didn't sound like Foster's; maybe they were Torres'? He went to the hall to check, and sure enough, there was Torres, angrily walking away in the opposite direction. Loker knew she was easily annoyed and angry, but today she seemed really agitated.

_Oh well, _he thought. _She's fun to play around with when she's angry._ Eli quickly walked down the hall to catch up with Ria. "Hey, Torres!" he exclaimed, making Ria wheel around to face him. Seeing it was Eli who called her, she continued down the hallway with Eli right beside her.

"What do you want, Loker?" she asked. She didn't have time for this; her lunch break wasn't that long and she _was_ going to visit Dupree, whether she actually ate lunch or not.

"You seem like you're in a hurry," he observed. They were almost to the exit, and Loker wanted to find out what was bugging her so much. He may like to bother her at times, but he also cared for her enough to know that something was up.

"Yeah, aren't you observant," Ria replied sarcastically. She opened the door and walked outside. _Crap,_ she thought as she felt the rain pouring down on her. She hadn't paid attention to the weather and didn't notice that it was no longer sunny like it was in the morning. _I knew I should've brought my car today.._ Ria turned around and walked back into the building. Loker held the door open for her.

"You're either really hungry or you like to walk out into the rain.," Loker commented, following her as she walked back the other way. Ria ignored him. "Really, where were you off to?" Ria stopped walking and looked at him.

"I was _going_ to visit Dupree at the hospital, but I didn't bring my stupid car and it's pouring outside, if you didn't notice." Ria studied Eli's face. Shock. "Didn't Lightman tell you? Everyone else seemed to know hours before I did."

_So that's why she's so pissed,_ Eli thought. _Her boyfriend was injured in the terrorist bombings._ He had heard Lightman and Foster talking quietly to each other and was able to catch "she knows she's not responsible now…" and "we'll tell her when we know more…", but he wasn't sure what they were talking about.

"He didn't mention that. I'm the unpaid intern, after all. The only things they tell me are what I'm supposed to do next." Silence. "Sorry about…your boyfriend," he said, deciding that it was best not to use his radical honesty; "Okay…so you're single now?" didn't seem like the best thing to say at the moment. The look on Ria's face showed that she believed him. It wasn't really a lie anyways; he did feel sorry for everyone who was killed or injured because of the bombings. Eli looked at the clock. There was a little bit over twenty minutes left until they were supposed to report back to the case. "I was smart enough to bring my car today. I could drive you over to the hospital if you want."

"What?" Ria looked at him to make sure he wasn't joking around. "Let's go."

…

Ria rushed into the hospital with Eli right behind her. She never knew Loker could drive so fast. She checked in with the receptionist in the lobby.

"Did he wake up yet?" Ria looked at the receptionist closely and knew the answer before the nurse said anything.

"I'm sorry, Miss Torres. He's still in a coma, but you can still go up and see him."

Eli glanced at Ria, detecting how worried she looked. He didn't know that Dupree was still unconscious. He must've been like that for, what? Three days, now? Before he could say anything, Ria led him to a hospital room. Dupree was on a bed in the middle of the room with bandages and tubes-oxygen, probably-around his nose. Ria took a seat next to the bed and looked at Dupree while Eli stared from the door. They stayed that way for the next ten minutes or so, when Ria noticed the time.

"Crap, we're going to be late," she said, rushing out of the room with one last glance at Dupree.

_Wish she looked at me like that, _Eli thought, remembering every concerned and caring look she gave Dupree. Surprised yet thankful that his radical honesty didn't seem to be working today, Eli walked out of the hospital beside Ria. The rain had mostly stopped, and the sun was peering through the clouds. At least that was one ray of hope before they had to face their boss about being late.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I wanted to try writing a Loker/Torres fanfic, so here it is. It might get out of character in some parts, but I'll do my best to keep it as in-character as possible. I'll try updating this soon, but until then, review! I'd like to know what you think of the story so far.(:


	2. Chapter 2

Eli and Ria rushed into the building; they were ten minutes late and still counting. Dr. Lightman had wanted to see them right after their lunch breaks, and they didn't think he'd be very thrilled when they arrived so late.

"Don't worry about it," Eli said, seeing the worry on her face. "I used to show up an hour late, and Lightman never did anything about it." Eleven minutes, and now they only had a few more hallways to walk through.

"What was your excuse?" Ria asked. Dr. Lightman's office was only a few feet away.

"I told Lightman I was drunk the previous night, and how I was thinking about how hot…" Ria opened the office door revealing Lightman sitting behind his desk.

"Where have you two been?" he replied just as Loker and Torres stepped in. They could notice the annoyance in his voice.

"Hospital," Loker answered simply. He didn't think he needed to be specific, and sure enough, understanding flickered on Lightman's face. Lightman picked up a folder and handed it to Ria. She glanced through it with Eli peering at it from behind her.

"Here's the case you'll be working on for the rest of the day," he said, getting up to leave the room. "Foster and I have another case to finish, so you'll have to start this case without us."

"Foster's here?" Eli asked, confused. "She wasn't in her office this morning." Lightman left the room, ignoring Eli, who shrugged and focused back on the folder. "What does it say?"

"A ten-year-old boy was murdered," she said without looking up. "His brother was claimed to cause suicide a month ago, and they're wondering if there was any connection."

"So then we're going to pay his parents a visit?" Eli asked, noticing the determined look on her face. Was she always so intent with all of her cases? _Not with the serial rapist, or even that case with those rappers, _he thought. _No, she just showed a look of concentration, and recently she's been agitated over the cases..._

"Yeah," Ria answered, disrupting Eli's thoughts. "Should we take your car again?" Nodding, Eli left the room with Ria close behind. They never really worked on a case this serious before without Dr. Lightman and Dr. Foster; Eli had hardy even worked on a case without the whole group since his demotion. _Finally, I get to work with Torres again_, he thought to himself.

* * *

"I'm surprised Lightman didn't put off his other case and start on this one," Ria said. They were on their way to visit Mr. and Mrs. Sanford, the couple they had set off to interrogate.

"Why?" he asked, giving her a questioning look before drifting back to his thoughts. _Is there something else, another expression, that Torres is showing? Yeah, that, right there, what is it? The corner of her lips, pulled down a little bit more than usual... sadness, maybe? About what, though? Dupree? _Eli shook his head. _No wonder why Torres always liked asking around and poking into other peoples businesses._ He could see her point there.

"The last time there was a case with suicides, he became completely obsessed over it." Ria said, glancing out the car window. "He wouldn't let us take a break for anything and expected us to have every little detail that he wanted."

Eli nodded. "While you were doing that, I was busy lying to Foster and setting myself up for a demotion," he said grimly, turning into a driveway. "We're here." Unbuckling their seatbelts, the two stepped out of the car and onto the concrete.

The house wasn't that big, yet it wasn't small either. Ria knocked on the door with Eli right next to her, taking in the neighboring houses. Nothing really seemed out of place. It was unusually quiet, but there wasn't anything else to observe. After a minute or so, someone opened the door.

"Hi," Ria said. The woman who answered looked tired and depressed. "I'm Ria Torres and this is Eli Loker. We're from the Lightman Group."

"Oh, thank you for coming. I'm Kim Sanford by the way." Eli and Ria stepped into the house as Mrs. Sanford moved back allowing them to enter. "I'll go get my husband. Have a seat." Mrs. Sanford left as she pointed to a room with two sofas. Ria cautiously sat down; Eli taking a seat right next to her.

Something in the next room instantly caught Ria's eyes-beer bottles. A ton of them, all empty. Eli followed her gaze without paying much attention. He couldn't care less about what she was staring at; he was, after all, sitting right next to her, and it wasn't a very long couch to begin with.

"This is my husband, Rick." Eli looked up just in time to see Kim reentering the room and Rick displaying a smile. A fake smile. It didn't reach his eyes. The Sanford's took a seat in the sofa across from them.

"We're really glad you came to help," Rick Sanford said, biting his lip. Eli knew that would mean something in the world of lie detection, but he was occupied with watching Ria out of the corner of his eye. _She's cute even when she's concentrating way too hard, _he thought. _Get with it, Eli. Stop looking at her and get your mind on the case. No matter how hot she looks, you need to start concentrating._

_"_You don't mean that, do you?" Ria asked, noticing the man's anxiousness.

"What do you mean I don't mean it?" he said, voice rising. _This guy sure has a temper, _Eli thought. "My son was murdered. Murdered! Why wouldn't I want to know who did it?" His eyebrows rose along with his last statement.

"You seem to know why you wouldn't." Eli noted, getting a glare from Mr. Sanford. _Man, is this guy easy to read_.

The afternoon wore on until they had some answers. They discovered that Mr. Sanford had a temper, he showed some guilt when talking about his murdered son, Hayden, and, oh yeah, _loved_ to lie. Mrs. Sanford, on the other hand, was pretty expressionless. The only time she showed something was when they talked about her son, Owen, who had caused suicide a month ago. She showed sadness tinged with some regret, but she didn't show anything when Hayden was mentioned.

"We should go tell Lightman about what we found out." Eli said, starting up the car and backing out of the driveway.

"We could do that tomorrow," Ria replied firmly. "Could you drop me off at the hospital? I want to check on Karl one last time."

"So now I'm a taxi driver?" Eli joked. "Okay, fine. I'll drop you off." Eli paused for a moment, turning the radio down. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Ria asked, seeing the mischievous grin Loker was giving her. That look that she was _way_ too used to seeing.

"Unless you'd like to go and get something to eat? We did skip luch, after all…" Eli gave her his innocent puppy look.

"Maybe after I visit Karl?" she said hesitantly.

"Okay, sure." Eli pulled up to the hospital.

Ria got out of the car and Eli watched as she entered the hospital.

_'Maybe you had her, maybe you lost her to another. To another.'_

Eli quickly shut the radio off completely. He didn't need to listen to songs that would only get him feeling sorry for himself. She had said yes, didn't she? _Yeah, but only after she visited Dupree, _he reminded himself. _And more importantly, just as friends…_

**Author's Note: Thanks for all of the reviews! I hope you like this chapter. There will be more Eli/Ria in the next one. This chapter was mainly to get everything set up for the next few, so it might have been sort of boring. The song used at the end is 'All at Once' by the Fray. **


	3. Chapter 3

Eli sat in his car waiting for Ria to come out of the hospital. She had been in there for at least ten minutes now. He was about to go in himself to get her when an ambulance pulled into the parking lot followed by a dark blue van. He watched the paramedics pull out a stretcher and carry it inside the hospital. The victim looked around the age of fifteen. Eli sat there, wondering what had happened. Before he could think up any theories, there was a light tapping from outside the door. He turned to see Ria waiting outside. Eli quickly unlocked the car door and Ria climbed in, frowning.

"How is he?" Eli asked, guessing that he already knew the answer.

"The same." He was right. Eli's eyes lingered to the ambulance again. Wait a minute. He knew the parents of the victim.

"Isn't that the Sanfords?"

"Don't tell me their other son…" Ria strained her neck just in time to see the stretcher being pulled into the building. All of a sudden, Eli could feel his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the caller id. Dr. Lightman.

"Hello," he said plainly.

"Loker," Lightman's voice said from the phone, "you've left the Sanford's place already?"

"Yeah, we left half an hour ago." Ria was looking at him now, trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

"There was another…development in the Sanford case. Their eldest son, Trent, he was found in his room unconscious. Their younger daughter has been taken to their grandparent's house, and the police think they're the main suspects. " _And I'm guessing that means no dinner with Torres, _Eli thought sadly.

"Hmm, we're at the hospital now," Eli said. "We just saw them arrive."

"Foster and I are almost finished with the case we've been working on, and we'll be coming over there soon. You and Torres should try to find out some more from the parents, for now. "

"Okay." After hearing Lightman hang up, Eli put his phone back in his pocket.

"What's going on?" she asked, staring right at him.

"Lightman wants us to go see the Sanford's again. Their oldest son seems to have narrowly escaped another murder."

"Wouldn't, uh, Kim and Rick have an idea of who was trying to kill their kids? I mean, how could the murderer attack two of their sons without them having the slightest idea who did it?" A small pause. "Unless they were the ones responsible for the deaths?" Ria turned back to Eli. She found it strange at how much time she's been spending with him. She practically spent the whole day with him, after all. That was a lot different than their usual once or twice a day encounters.

"Did you know you look extremely hot when you're thinking?" Eli remarked randomly. His radical honesty seemed to be coming back from this morning.

"I-what?" Ria put on a confused smile, not unlike the one she used when she first met Eli. _What did he say again? _Ria thought. _Oh, right. 'I want to sleep with you'. What a nice way to introduce yourself. _"Uh, shouldn't we be looking for the Sanfords?"

"Right. It might be a good idea to do that before Lightman arrives." The two got out of the car and headed inside the hospital. They didn't have to go far before they found the Sanford's in the waiting room. There were two policemen there arguing with them.

"-then who do you think did it?" the policeman nearest to Ria and Eli asked. He didn't seem to be very patient. Sort of like Agent Reynolds. "You were the only people who were inside the house at the time-" Ria watched as Rick Sanford bit his lip. _He knows something,_ Ria thought.

"You seem to be hiding something," she said to Rick, who gave another one of his irritated expressions.

"And who the hell are you?" the same policeman asked abruptly, just noticing Ria and Eli entering the room.

"Ria Torres," Ria replied calmly. "This is Eli Loker, and we're from the Lightman Group. We're also trying to solve this case."

The policeman opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, the other policeman gave him a silencing look. "Didn't you solve that terrorist plot a few days ago?" Eli turned to Ria who's eyes had glazed over, a sign that meant sadness; she probably remembered about Dupree.

"Yeah, that was us," Eli replied.

"Was there anyone else in the house besides you and your wife?" Ria asked Rick. She didn't want to have a nice little chat with two policemen; they needed to solve the case, after all. Everyone focused their gaze on Rick, whose temper seemed to be building again.

"No." He bit his lip again.

"Who else had access to Trent's room?"

"I said that there was nobody in the house!" The sudden opening of the door caused all six of them to wheel around. Lightman and Foster had arrived.

* * *

Eli stood outside the door. He knew he shouldn't be listening in on Lightman and Torres, but he couldn't help it. If they saw him, he would just say he was looking for Torres…

"-but it was him!" he could hear Ria say, raising her voice.

"-just because you're a natural doesn't mean you're always right." Lightman said. "You want him to be the murderer, so that's what you've-" Ria stormed out of the office, nearly running into Eli, who had been standing outside.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she replied, looking at him with a shocked and angered look.

"Um, I was just wondering if you still wanted a ride-"

"I'll be fine, thanks." Eli noticed the slight sarcasm in her voice and watched as Ria stormed down the hallway, not even pausing to see if he was following her. Sighing, he walked the other way to his car before he stopped and looked behind him. Should he go after her, or would she just push him away, like always? After standing there for a minute, he hesitantly started walking, this time along the path that Ria had just took.

**Author's Note:** Sorry this chapter took so long; I hope it was worth the wait. It's more like another one of those chapters that is 'setting up' for an event in the next one, at least for me anyways. There's probably going to be more Eli/Ria moments in the next chapter, which will hopefully be posted soon. As always, please review! I like reading what you think. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Eli looked outside to find someone sitting on a bench, right outside The Lightman Group, in the rain. The person was Ria, without a doubt. Without thinking, he walked through the door and into the storm. Eli was just thinking what he should do next when Ria looked up.

"What do you want?" she asked. Her voice didn't sound as angry this time, just tired.

"What're you doing out here?" Eli asked, ignoring her question. "I didn't know you liked the rain so much. I mean, I was just joking around earlier, but now…?" _Yes, it worked,_ Eli thought as a small smile appeared on Ria's face. He didn't care if her smile was genuine or not; he just liked seeing her smile. He liked her when she was annoyed, too, but he would rather have her happy then angry.

"Really, why are you here?" Ria questioned, interrupting Eli's thoughts.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay after dealing with Lightman," Eli said, taking a seat next to Ria. "I know that you've been having a hard time since, since Dupree was in a coma and all, and Lightman not telling you…" Eli could read Ria's expression, even through the rain and darkness. It showed shock, and then a little bit of happiness.

"Thanks, Loker, that's not something you'd usually say." They stared at each other a minute, Eli noticing how close their faces were, then…

Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky, causing Eli and Ria to jerk their heads away and look up. A roll of thunder soon followed, causing the two to jump off the bench.

"Now would be a great time to get inside," Eli stated, and they ran back through the doors into the building, not needing Eli's radical honesty to know what to do. Once inside, they just noticed how soaked they were from sitting outside in the rain. _Who cares if I'm wet, _Eli thought. _I almost kissed someone, not just anyone, but Torres._

"Need a ride?" Eli asked, reaching in his damp pocket and taking out his car keys.

"No thanks, I was just going to look over the case videos again," Ria said. "Apparently Lightman sees something that I don't." _That was too close, Ria, too close, _she thought to herself. _You can't go around kissing Loker. You're in love with Dupree, remember?_ Ria shook off her thoughts and turned her attention back to Loker.

"You didn't bring your car, and I really wouldn't recommend walking out in that storm again," Eli said, jokingly. He really didn't want to sound desperate, but it seemed like that was how it was going to end up.

"Don't push it, Loker," Ria said, smiling, as she walked away. Sighing, Eli turned the other way to his car. Maybe one day Ria would want to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her.

* * *

Eli Loker walked into the building, putting his car keys back into his pocket. Before he could get far, Ria Torres walked right up to him.

"Lightman and Foster just went to question Seth Marlow," Ria stated. "He's a friend of the Sanford's who visits their house frequently. While they're out doing that, Lightman wants us to look over the tapes from yesterday."

"Again?" Eli asked, following Ria into a room. "Didn't Lightman get everything he needed from those tapes already?"

"I guess not."

"Do you know how the son who just got attacked is doing?"

"Oh, Lightman also said that we should check the hospital after reviewing the tapes." Eli headed back towards the door.

"Okay, we've done enough reviewing," Eli declared, leaving Ria behind him, confused. Eli usually made sure he did everything he was instructed to do. Well, at least everything Lightman ordered him to do. Shrugging, Ria trailed behind him. She didn't mind skipping the case videos and finding new updates in the case instead.

"Should we take my car again?"

"Yeah." The two went into the car and headed towards the hospital.

* * *

After talking to the receptionist, they found out that Trent Sanford was conscious again. Ria and Eli walked down the plain hallways and entered the room that the receptionist had told them to go to. Sure enough, there was the same boy they saw yesterday, sitting up in his bed. Seeing someone enter the room, Trent turned to them, fear on his face. Once he saw who it was, he became a bit more relaxed and the fear left.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking at Eli and Ria suspiciously.

"We're here to help find out who did this to you," Ria replied, noticing the flicker of fear returning to his face. "Do you know who did this to you?"

"No," Trent said, not breaking eye contact. "I didn't see him." Ria looked at Eli, she could tell the boy was lying.

"That's not the truth," Ria said.

"I didn't see him," Trent repeated calmly. The boy didn't seem to have the temper of his father. He did, however, seem to have the same amount of skill at lying as his dad.

"Why won't you tell us what really happened?" A pained expression came over the boy's face.

"I can't." Trent looked down, shame. _It's like he wants to help us, but something's preventing him from doing it, _Ria thought. Ria could only think of one reason why Trent would hide something against his will.

"Were you threatened?" Hesitantly, the boy reached underneath his pillow and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He slowly handed it over to them. Eli took it from Trent, unfolded it, and frowned. He handed it to Ria, expressionless. Ria took the note and read it:

_Tell anyone about our little incident, and your sister will pay for it._

Ria read over the note again. "Who gave you this?"

"The nurse. She said someone handed to her right before she came into my room."

"And you know who that someone is?" The boy nodded sadly.

"It's…it's Dad's friend. He's crazy. He meant to kill me when he…he murdered Hayden. I didn't know Hayden was there, and I…I started running. I heard a gun, but I didn't know…" Tears started to fall from Trent's cheeks. A nurse entered the room, and seeing that Trent was upset, she shooed Ria and Eli out of the room.

"We have to tell Lightman," Ria whispered to Eli, who was walking next to her silently.

"I'll call," Loker volunteered, flipping out his phone. Before he could dial any numbers, they heard a crash from the room they just exited. Eli and Ria both whirled around, instantly remembering something Trent had mentioned earlier. _The nurse._

Ria and Eli ran into the room, revealing the nurse with a gun in her shaking hands. Some equipment was lying on its side on the floor, and Trent was standing beside his bed, unharmed but scared. The nurse quickly pointed the gun at Ria, a mad look on her face. Eli watched as the nurse's fingers slowly pressed down on the trigger, and at the last second, he pushed Ria out of the way. After hearing the gunshot, Eli felt a searing pain in his shoulder and fell to the floor. He heard Ria yell "Loker!", another crash, a scream, and then everything went black.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hope you liked this chapter! I'll try to get the next one up soon. The next chapter will have more explainations about the case, and...yeah, I don't want to spoil the rest for you. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Eli Loker woke up to a plain room and the faint sound of beeping. Confused, he looked around; this was definitely not his room. Eli spotted someone beside his bed, and he suddenly realized where he was and how he got there.

"Thank God you're okay," she said as she watched Eli sit up. Eli winced as he felt a sting in his shoulder. He looked to find it all bandaged up.

"Ow," he muttered. Eli saw that the look of concern on Ria's face closely resembled the look she gave Dupree. _Maybe getting shot in the shoulder isn't all bad, _he thought. "Is the case solved yet?" he asked, rubbing his head that also felt sore.

"Lightman and Foster are talking to Trent," Ria said. "They're thinking that Seth Marlow and the nurse were working together, but they want to see what Trent knows. They're hoping to interview the nurse later."

"And what happened after I was shot?"

"The nurse was seriously crazy, and she wasn't going to stop shooting everyone. Luckily, Trent pushed some equipment over that hit right into the nurse. After that, some doctors and nurses ran into the room to see what was going on."

"Right. So when can I get out of here again?" Before Ria could answer, a doctor entered the room.

"Glad to see you're awake," he said with a smile.

* * *

Ria and Eli were walking down the hallways of the Lightman Group. Apparently there were some new discoveries in the Sanford case, and Lightman wanted them to come to his office as soon as they could. Eli was released from the hospital after convincing the doctor he felt fine and a long list of how to deal with his shoulder, including pain medications, and other medical information.

They were almost to Lightman's office when Ria turned a different way. Eli turned right behind her curiously. She stopped after reaching the end of the corridor and turned to Eli, who gave her a questioning look.

"I forgot to say thanks," she said, her eyes searching Eli's face. Something about the way Ria looked when she said that made Eli think she didn't forget, but was just waiting for a good opportunity to say so. "You basically saved my life at the hospital."

Before Eli could say anything, he noticed that Ria took a step towards him. He instantly disregarded what Ria had just said, and, before he knew it, her lips were pressed to his. He was about to return the kiss when-

"Torres, Loker!" someone called from down the hallway, as they quickly pulled away from each other. "Didn't I tell you to come to my office?" They turned to see Dr. Lightman approaching the. Eli noticed the embarrassed look on Ria's face before he looked back at his boss.

"We were just on our way," Ria said. After studying them for a minute, he started walking back towards his office with the two right beside him.

"Foster and I just talked to Trent Sanford," he said as he took a seat at his desk. "He told us the same story: Seth Marlow tried to kill him and was responsible for the death of his brother. He thinks the nurse must've been friends with Seth, but he's not sure. When we interviewed Seth, he didn't seem to be the killer, showing shock at the crime photos, but one thing he did show was guilt. We think that he might have planned the murders while the nurse, who we discovered was his sister, Elizabeth Marlow, actually did them."

Before Lightman could finish, the door opened and Gillian Foster entered the room. "I just checked to see if the nurse, Elizabeth Marlow, was awake and able to answer a few questions," Foster said. Eli could tell that something had happened by the sad look on Foster's face. "She was found dead."

"What?" Ria asked in shock. "That equipment Trent hit into her caused that much damage?" _She was unconscious, but the nurse didn't even seem to be injured as bad as Loker, who's already out of the hospital,_ Ria thought, confused.

"No," Foster replied, slightly shaking her head along with her reply. "Someone stabbed her."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait!! This chapter is sort of shorter than usual, but I'll try getting the next one up REALLY soon. I'll try to put it up later this week. Thanks so much for all the reviews! They really help keep me motivated!! **


	6. Chapter 6

All three looked at Foster, puzzled. If Elizabeth was the murderer, then why would she be the one murdered?

"It's time we gave the Sanford's another visit," Cal said, getting up to leave. "Don't be so sure you were right, Torres," he added, seeing the small smirk flickering across her face. She quickly frowned after his statement and looked at him in disbelief. She hated how he always read her like that, always trying to embarass her. "You two go to the hospital and see if anyone there saw someone enter the room the nurse was being held in." Before anyone could argue, he left the room along with Foster.

"It's like I live at the hospital," Eli commented as he left the room with Ria. "I haven't been away from there for more than an hour."

"Hey, want to get some dinner after we check the hospital?" she asked, surprising Eli. He was the one who usually asked those type of questions. "The trip to the hospital shouldn't take long, and we were interrupted last time…"

"Sure," Eli replied, still stunned. "This is turning out to be the best day of my life, whether I'm in the hospital half the time or not…" Ria smirked at his statement, having the slightest guess as to why it was his best day…

* * *

"Hey, we're here to find out more about Elizabeth Marlow. Did any staff members happen to see someone entering her room before she was killed?"

"Um, I don't think so, the nurse who was tending to Mrs. Marlow was on lunch break," the secretary Ria was talking to replied while biting her lip anxiously.

"The nurse wasn't on lunch break," Ria stated at the secretary's lie. "Where was she?"

"Leah didn't know she was a killer!" the secretary exclaimed. "She didn't know, and she let her in the room…"

"Do you know who it was?"

"Um, what?" the secretary said, caught off guard. "Why would I know who the murderer was, Miss Torres?"

"Well, considering that your eyebrows raised along with the question, you do," Eli remarked, causing the secretary to turn to him, bewildered. "It's a sign of lying. You also seem to be calling the guy who came in a 'she', so you apparently know the gender of the murderer. That's called distancing. Uh, people usually check in to the secretary, which would be you, before seeing a patient, also, so…"

"Okay, okay!" the secretary said. "I saw her! She came in earlier, I thought she was going to see her son, but that didn't happen, now did it? Instead she went to see Mrs. Marlow, said she was a friend of hers.."

"It was Kim Sanford?" Ria asked, bewildered. It wasn't Rick, but Kim? The secretary nodded shamefully. _Rick must've known something, though. _Ria thought. _He must've known it was his wife, because of all the lies he was telling us._

…

"Okay. Yeah, it was Kim Sanford who killed Elizabeth, according to the secretary…"

Ria stood outside the hospital, listening to Loker talking to Lightman on his cell phone. Despite the sinking feeling that she still had about Dupree never waking up, she was glad that she was getting closer to Eli. She needed someone to help her though losing Dupree, and she always thought of Eli as interesting. She had secretly liked him, everything, from his radical honesty to his hair.

"Yeah…" Eli put his phone away and turned to Ria. "He never says bye or anything, just hangs up."

"You've just noticed that?" Ria said with a smile, remembering the one time she had to call Lightman, and how he hung up before she was done.

"Well, no, but it's been happening a lot lately, since I had to call him about the case a few times."

"What did Lightman have to say?" Ria asked. She hated being unaware about what was going on.

"Oh, Lightman seemed like he knew what happened, didn't care to explain it to me, but...I think everything's solved. Well, no more involvement from us, anyways." The two started walking towards Ria's car. "Should we get pizza?" Eli asked after getting in his car.

"Sure," Ria said, remembering about the dinner they were going to together.

* * *

"This is a date, right?" Eli asked, hardly shocking Ria. He always spoke what was on his mind, after all.

"Well, if you want it to be," Ria replied, she took another bite from her pizza.

"This is actually my first date in a while," Eli said randomly as they each took another slice of pizza. "I normally never get a second one."

"I wonder why," Ria said jokingly, then took another slice of her pizza.

"Being honest all the time is worth it, though." Eli said, seeing what Ria meant.

"All the time?" Ria asked, remembering his lie to Foster.

"That was for a good reason," Eli said, knowing what Ria was talking about. He really didn't want to talk about that at the moment. He didn't want to lie to Foster, but he couldn't let Hollin go to jail for his daughter. She needed the punishment, not her father.

Eli's phone started ringing, and he looked at the caller id. "It's Lightman," he said in surprise. He expected Lightman to leave them alone for the rest of the day. According to Ria's expression, she was shocked, too.

"Hello?" Eli said, answering the phone. _What did Lightman want?_

"I need you and Torres to go back to the hospital," Lightman's voice called from over the phone.

"I thought you said the case was finished?" Eli said, looking up to see Ria staring at him.

"I have an idea, yeah, but you need to go with Torres to see Trent again. He might've been lying about seeing Seth Marlow."

"Okay." Eli turned to Ria. "Guess where we're supposed to go?"

"The hospital?" Ria didn't need a confirmation for her guess, just a look at Eli's expressions.

* * *

"Were you lying when you told us that Seth Marlow was the murderer?" Eli asked Trent.

"No," Trent said, glancing suspiciously at the two. "I was telling the truth."

"You don't seem to be so confident about that," Ria said, noticing the tone of Trent's voice. "Did your mom tell you to blame him?" Shock flittered across the boy's face, quickly replaced by fear.

"What? No, she didn't!"

"She killed your brother, Hayden, didn't she?"

"I don't know why." Trent said sadly. "She tried hurting me and Hayden, tried…killing us. She tried shooting me first, but I ran. Hayden tried to help me, but she shot him. She never abused Owen, not much." A tear went down Trent's cheek. "He hated it, he knew she was hurting us, so he…he killed himself." He took a deep breath, then went on: "Dad saw her do it, abuse us, once, and he got into an argument with her. He thought she stopped, and he thinks he could've stopped it all, prevented Hayden's murder, Owen's suicide. Dad wanted everything to be okay, didn't want Mom to go to jail or anything, so he didn't tell the police about his…his suspicions. Mom told me not to tell, sent the nurse to give me notes about my sister, but..."

"Thanks, Trent." Ria said as she left the room with Eli. Trent looked like he was getting upset, and they had the confession they needed.

"Finally, the case is almost over." Eli said, relieved, as they walked out into the lobby. Before Ria could reply, a brown-haired nurse came rushing over to her.

"Miss Torres," she said hurriedly. "Dupree, well, he just woke up."

"What?" Ria asked. After hours of waiting, he actually was consious again? "He woke up?"

"Yes, just now. He still won't be able to leave the hospital for a few days, but you can still visit him."

"Okay," she said, turning to Eli. Eli noticed the uncertainty in her voice; it was like she didn't believe this was happening, or that she didn't want to.

"I'll wait for you out here." Eli replied to her gaze. He took a seat in one of the waiting room chairs as Ria followed the nurse to Dupree's room. He had been so close, but then Dupree came out of his unconsciousness. He didn't want Dupree to die, but…

_She'll definitely go back to him,_ Eli thought hopelessly, the past few days buzzing around his head. Sure they were good, but he didn't think they would be good enough.

Eli looked through the magazines and picked one up. He should try to keep Ria out of his mind, whether it actually worked or not.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of update; I hope you like this chapter anyways. Sorry if there's any mistakes: I didn't have time to check over it much, but I decided not to keep you waiting and put this up anyways. There's only a few chapters left after this one, and hopefully the next one will be up soon. Thank you so much for all of the reviews!!! I really appreciate them! **


	7. Chapter 7

"He's right in here," the nurse said as she led Ria into a hospital room. Her eyes quickly fell on Dupree, who was lying on the bed in the middle on the room. Ria quickly rushed to his side. _This isn't going to be easy, _Ria thought. She had to choose between Loker and Dupree, and she really didn't want to hurt either of them. She already knew who she was going to choose, but breaking the news was always the hardest part.

"Hey," Ria said, glancing at all of Dupree's bandages before returning his gaze. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, my head hurts like hell," Dupree said, "but other than that, I'm fine." Ria could see the pained expression across his face even as he managed a smile. "I heard you helped find the terrorist who was responsible for the bombing."

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that," Ria said, remembering everything about the case and her anger at Lightman for keeping the news about Dupree from her.

"Is something wrong?" Dupree asked after another silence. He might not be an expert in reading people, but he could tell something was up. Ria normally looked confident, unlike the unsure look she wore now.

"I, uh, I have to tell you something," Torres replied. She really didn't want to do this, especially since he just woke up from a coma, but it was too late to go back now. Dupree gave her his attention, and so she continued; "Well, you remember Loker, right?"

"Don't tell me he let you in on another job-threatening secret…" Dupree said, recalling the stress he had put Ria in the last time Loker had told her about his lie to his boss. He would seriously have to have another talk with Loker if he did that again...

"No, he didn't," Ria said with a small smile. Although she didn't like having to lie about what she knew about the Hollin case, she still felt glad that Eli had trusted her enough to tell her. She also remembered that one night when Eli had called, and her little chat with Dupree about how keeping secrets was sometimes better. "While you were, well, unconscious for the past few days, we had this…interesting case together. It involved a murder of a kid and a suicide of his brother, and so we went to see if we could find who did it." Ria could tell she was stalling, she really needed to get the point. "What I'm trying to tell you is, Eli and I, well, we're sort of, uh, together now."

"He's your new boyfriend?" Karl asked. Ria hated the look of disappointment that lingered on his face.

"I guess you could say that. I'm really sorry. These past few days showed really showed me who he was, I mean, there was this nurse involved in our case who tried shooting me, but Eli pushed me out of the way and he got hit instead…I'm really sorry…" Ria watched as the sadness stayed glued on his face. She really hated this, she really did, but she wasn't in love with Dupree anymore.

* * *

Eli, who had given up on looking for a magazine to read in the hospital's small selection, looked up to see Ria coming towards him. The first thing he noticed was the sad look on her face.

"How is he?" he asked, wondering if Dupree was still in a coma, despite what the nurse had said.

"He's fine," Ria answered. "The nurse says he'll probably be able to leave on Friday."

"That's good news, isn't it?" Eli asked. If Dupree was healing, then wouldn't Ria be happy?

Ria nodded. "I told Dupree about what happened while he was unconscious." _That must be why, _Eli thought.

"And everything means…?"

"I…broke up with him."

"What?" Eli thought she would definitely go back to Dupree, but she dumped him instead?

"Well, since we sort of, well, went on a date, I thought you'd want to continue along that road."

"You gave up with him to be with me?" Eli asked, shocked. He had always liked Torres, from the moment he first saw her. He never knew she would ever return the feeling.

Ria nodded again. "What, you didn't want me to?" Ria joked. She knew that he was just stunned at what she did. Hey, she was shocked herself.

"No, I just never thought that you would do that."

"Should we get going now? We've been here all week."

"Sure." The two left the hospital and walked out into the night. Ria stopped for a second and looked back at the hospital. Eli came towards her.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," Ria said, slightly shaking her head.

"Yeah?" Eli said as they continued walking.

"How's your shoulder?" Ria asked, suddenly remembering Eli's injury.

"Oh, it doesn't hurt so much anymore. That pain medicine must be working."

"That's good," Ria said, coming to another stop in front of the car. She turned to face Eli. They looked at each other for a moment, and then their lips pressed together in a kiss. Unlike their previous attempts, this one didn't have anyone, or anything, to interrupt them.

* * *

**Author's Note: There's only one chapter(more like an epilogue) left, and I'll try to get it up soon so you guys can read it. I hope you liked this chapter. I thought it was a little boring, but... maybe you'll like it better then I did. Please review like always; I really like reading what you thought! :)**


	8. Epilogue

**A Few Years Later**

Ria smiled as she saw Dupree entering the Lightman Group, followed by a dark-haired woman. Ria was glad that he had managed to recover completely from the mall bombing incident. He had gone back to working a few weeks after he awoke from his unconscious state. Ria had come to love her job, even if Lightman would use her once in a while. Sure, she would get pissed at Lightman for doing that, but she was slowly getting used to it, just like she was now accustomed to Loker's radical honesty.

"Hey Ria," Dupree said as he walked up to her, the dark-haired woman right beside him. "I'd like you to meet someone." He turned to the women beside him . "Ria, this is Savanna. Savanna, this is Ria."

"Hi," Ria said with a smile, shaking Savanna's hand. She had heard of Savanna before; Dupree had mentioned her every once in a while.

"Nice to meet you," Savanna replied with a shy smile.

"We're getting married in July, and here's an invitation. It would be nice if you could come." Dupree handed Ria an envelope, which she turned over to find her name written across it.

"That's great! I mean congratulations." Ria saw the happy look on Dupree's face, and she was glad to see him so happy. They had luckily stayed friends through their break-up, and she was happy that he had found someone else he enjoyed being with.

"Thanks. We were just going to grab something to eat. You could come if you'd like."

"Eli already planned to take me somewhere tonight, sorry."

"That's fine, have fun. We better get going now, see you later, Ria." Ria watched them leave the building.

"Hi Ria," a voice said from behind her. Although she recognized that voice, she still turned to see who it was.

"Hi Eli," Ria replied, as he pulled her in for a quick kiss. Nobody in the building really cared if they kissed right there, in the office, as the employees were already used to Loker's radical honesty which was normally just as inappropriate, not to mention that Lightman and Foster seemed to be headed in the same direction.

"Ready to go?" Eli asked as he reached for the keys in his pocket.

"I thought you said we were leaving at seven?" Ria asked, recalling the time Eli had told her a few hours ago.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing to do here, so why not go early?"

"I guess you're right," Ria replied. They had already finished the cases for the day, so the employees were getting restless with nothing to do. "Where are we going?"

"That would ruin the surprise," he said with a small smile. "Come on, we have to get the helmets."

"We're riding your motorcycle?" Ria asked curiously as Eli picked up two helmets and followed Ria to the door.

"Yeah." Eli led Ria out to his motorcycle and handed her a helmet.

"And Lightman and Foster don't mind that we're leaving?"

"Don't worry, I told them we were getting off of work early." The two put their helmets on, and Eli took a seat in front while Ria sat behind him. She put her arms around his waist as he started up the motorcycle and drove out of the parking lot.

* * *

"Pizza?" Ria asked as the motorcycle came to a stop in front of the local pizza restaurant. The same pizza place where they had their first date.

"Yeah," Eli said, taking Ria's helmet and putting it away with his own. He loved how she didn't know what was going on as she normally did. He knew she would catch on soon enough.

"Why pizza?" Ria implored suspiciously.

"You don't like pizza anymore?" Eli remarked jokingly.

"No, I was just wondering," she said doubtfully.

"We're just having dinner," Eli confirmed to Ria's questioning expression. He watched as it turned to satisfaction.

"You're not a good liar."

"Okay, so we're going somewhere else after this. Stop trying to ruin the surprise." After ordering their pizza, the two found a seat in the back of the room.

"So where is this mystery place that we're going next?" Ria probed as soon as they sat down.

"You'll find out soon enough." Eli smiled, knowing that the mystery of it must be driving Ria crazy.

After a few more minutes of chatting about the cases they took earlier that day, the waitress brought over their pizza.

"Another thing I love about this place: good service." Eli said as they each grabbed a slice of pizza.

"The best thing," Ria agreed. "Except for the quality of the food; that's pretty good too."

"Yeah, the pizza's great." Eli nodded.

* * *

"So where are we going now?" Ria questioned as they left the pizza place. She headed towards the motorcycle.

"Oh, we're not taking that." Eli said, stopped on the sidewalk.

"What?" Ria asked, confused. She hated being oblivious to what was going on.

"We're walking," Eli answered simply. "Come on." Ria walked up to him and took his outstretched hand in hers.

"Why are we walking-?" Ria left her question unfinished when she saw a few familiar faces standing in front of an ice cream store. While still continuing to walk, Eli turned to see what she was looking at.

"-so what flavor do you want?" they heard the man ask the two kids next to him.

"Oh, I want the cookies and cream one!" the younger girl exclaimed excitedly, whirling around to her brother. "What do _you_ want, Trent?"

"I'll have the same thing," he responded more calmly than his sister.

"We had a case from them before," Ria told Eli.

"Yeah, the one where the mom ended up going to jail," Eli recalled. _The case that led to our relationship. _Eli thought as they focused their attention back to the family.

"-I'll go get those, then." The man walked up to the counter to order the ice cream while Trent turned to his sister.

"Come on, Sarah, let's find a bench."

"Okay!" The girl followed her brother, and soon found a bench to sit on. Their dad brought back the ice cream just as Ria and Eli returned their attention to each other.

"They looked so happy," Ria said.

"Yeah, they don't seem to be having as much problems as before." Eli commented. "I mean, you never know if there were more lunatics in their mom's family..."

"Wow, look at that!" Ria pointed to a circle-shaped fountain to their left. "I never noticed that before…"

"They just put it up a few months ago…" The two went up to the fountain for a closer look.

"Ria," Eli said, kneeling down on one knee and reaching into his pocket. Ria suddenly knew what the 'big surprise' was. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes, I will!" Ria exclaimed after a moment of surprise, taking the ring as Eli stood up. She wrapped her arms around Eli, and Eli returned the hug. _Just what I wanted when I first saw her. _Eli managed to think before the two pressed their lips together for a passionate kiss.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, that's the end! I really hope you liked the ending, as I wasn't so sure about it. I'm sorry that you had to wait so long for this epilogue, I got pretty busy(long story). I actually had a hard time writing this(I'm bad with endings, especially happy ones xD)**** I really hope you enjoyed the WHOLE story. I hope you liked it as much as I liked writing it. It was fun. xD**

**Thank you SO much for anyone that reviewed this story! I loved reading your feedback! I'd appreciate it if you reviewed this epilogue as well. (:**

**I might write another Loker/Torres fic, but it probably won't be anytime soon. Right now I'll probably be writing stuff about Cal/Gillian(my other Lie to Me ship xD), but I might have a few Eli/Ria oneshots written soon...**

**By the way, as much as I would want to, I do NOT own Lie to Me and it's characters in any way.**


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